Some Privacy, Please

By Justin (Age 13, French International School)

It is 2020. The word 'privacy' does not exist anymore. Everything that I write or do could be accessed by anyone. Nowhere is safe and secure.

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Photo via Wikimedia Commons

School just ended and I decided to hang out with my friends for awhile before going home. We were walking along the street when I got a text message from my mom asking why I was hanging out with my friends. She told me that she tracked down my location using her phone and found out that I wasn't in school. I wasn't skipping school. The teacher who was supposed to teach me wasn't there so we were allowed to leave earlier than usual. She then asked me why I was hanging out with Antonio and Joshua. I thought to myself, "How is it even possible for her to know who I was hanging out with?" All she told me was that she accessed the street camera and saw a few photos whilst I was accompanying Antonio and Joshua. She asked me to come home right away but I didn't. She called me again and yelled at me, asking me to come home straight away. She was stalking me the whole time. I decided to obey what she said and went back home.

On the bus, my friend Joel called me and asked me why I wasn't with Antonio and Joshua. He wasn't stalking me but he saw a notification of my texts with my mom. It started to drive me mad. He asked me if he could play on the PS6 with me that night. Right before I replied, I heard my mom saying "No!" for me. Mom was listening to my conversation with Joel the whole time! I thought to myself, "How can I get rid of these people stalking me?" So, I decided to go to the harbour front and threw away all the electronic devices into the ocean. I thought no one could stalk me anymore, but I was wrong.

The moment I got home, my mom asked me why I threw away all my devices into the ocean. She saw some photos of me on Photobucket. Some random person probably took a picture when I threw away my items. I thought to myself, "Where am I going to be safe when there are random stalkers on the street too?" I was extremely confused. It came to my head that if I disguised myself, nobody would recognize me.

I went down to the mall without my mom noticing and when I got home, my mom asked me why I went to the mall without her permission. Do I have any privacy at all? Plus, how was it possible? My mom said that she got samples of my fingerprint and found my exact location after I had left.

I got home, went into my room and stayed there since it was the only place with privacy and the only place where nobody could stalk me. My computer buzzed. I got a message from my friend asking me why I was looking so sad in my room. It was weird, since I hadn't even turned on my web cam. He told me that my web cam was on all the time since last week and everybody was able to see me live for the whole week.

I asked myself again, "Where can I get some privacy?"